Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is providing to the Kurdish Peshmerga in their efforts against Daesh.

Mr Philip Hammond

As part of our wider support to the Government of Iraq and in close cooperation with the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, we are providing substantial assistance to the Kurdish Peshmerga. In addition to the air support being provided by the RAF, the UK military training team in northern Iraq we have trained over 2,700 Peshmerga fighters in infantry fighting skills, weapons handling and C-IED procedures. We have also gifted weapons and ammunition, including 40 heavy machine guns, non-lethal equipment and airlifted support provided by other Coalition partners.